Install kubectl in your Docker image, the easy way

Most of the time, when I install software on my Docker images, I add a rather hairy RUN command which does something like:

1. Install some dependencies for key management.
2. Add a GPG key for a new software repository.
3. Install software from that new software repository.
4. Clean up apt/yum/dnf caches to save a little space.

This is all well and good; and this is the most recommended way to install kubectl in most situations, but it's not without it's drawbacks:

• You have to have a multi-part RUN command.
• You have to add a GPG key and an extra software repository to support the install (taking up some precious space in your image layer).
• It's just annoying when you just need a single binary or executable to be present!

So for a while now, I've been using the following shortcut to getting certain utilities on my Docker images. As long as you trust the upstream from which you install them, you can actually copy executables directly from other images on Docker Hub (or any other image repository) as part of your Dockerfile build. For example, I just want kubectl in my Docker image's $PATH:

Now in the rest of the Dockerfile, or in the running container, I can use kubectl with no problem! As long as you trust the image source (in this case, Lachlan Evenson, who works for Microsoft), it's a way simpler (and lighter-weight) way to grab a single binary.

Why am I pulling v1.10.3 instead of the latest? Because that's the only currently-supported version of Kubernetes on EKS, which is what I'm using for the particular project from which this example was pulled.

This also works for things like Composer, which is used to manage PHP dependencies. I usually pull the latest version of the binary straight from the official Docker Library image:

This example shows how you can immediately start using the executable in the rest of the Dockerfile if you want.